Improvement in billiard-tables



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. DAVIS BRADLEY, OF \VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BILLIARD-TABLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,82?, dated August 16, 1864.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, J. DAVIS BRADLEY, of Washington city, District of Columbia, have invented a new and `useful Improvement in Billiard-Tables; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact deseription of .the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part ,ot' this specification, in whicl1 Figure l represents a perspective view of a portion of my improved table with the extra cover C upon it. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same with the extra cover C removed, showing also the screws in the legs for raising and lowering the table. Fig. 3 is a section of the cast iron frame. Fig. 4 is a bottom view .of the same; Figs. 5 and 6, sectional views ot' the legs, showing the arrangement of the adjustable casters; and Fig. 7, a detached perspective view of the angular lever carrying the casters.

The nature of my invention is to produce a small, convenient, and cheap billiard-table for private residences, which may take the place of the dining-table, center-table, or oilice business-table, and at the same. time be readily converted by a few simple modifications into a billiard-table when not otherwise employed, thus rendering it unnecessary to provide a separate apartment to be devoted exclusively to the billiard-table, as has heretofore been necessary, and thus placeit within the means of many lovers of this attractive and elegant amusement to gratify their tastes at a small expense of either money or house-room.

Ihe great diiculty in converting a billiardtable into an ordinary table for domestic purposes consists in the fact that the surface ot' a billiard-tableis some six or seveninches higher than an ordinary household table, and that owing to the fact that the depth of the cabinetwork of the frame, as now constructed of wood, is so great (being from sixteen to twenty-two inches) as to make it impossible to lower the table to the necessary extent without having this wooden frame-work approach so near to the ioor as to leave insufticient space beneath it to accommodate the' legs ot' persons sitting around it, as in the ordinary dining and other household table. To ohviate these diliculties I have invented the following improvements, which consist, first, in reducing the bulk (r depth of the frame by making it of a stronger material-such as ironwhereby the entire depth ot' the frame is reduced to, say, six or seven inches, approximating to the depth of the framing of the ordinary dining-table, so that when the table is lowered to the necessary extent in making the modifications contemplated there is still ample room beneath it to accommodate the legs ot' sitters in the ordinary way beneath it; and for the purpose of readily lowering and raising it I provide the legs (which I make only fourin number) with screws similar in construction to those of the ordinary music-stool. I also provide an extra removable cover, ot' light plank or other suitable material, which may be pl-aced entirely over the top of the table to convert the surface into an even plane, as that of an ordinary table, which cover may be formed of separate pieces united by hinges, so as to be capable of folding up into a moderate space and deposited on a rack beneath the table when the same is being used as abilliard-table. I also provide adjustable casters, so arranged as to be withdrawn within a cavity formed in the lower portion of the legs when it is desired to have the table firmly fixed and immovable, as it should be when used as a billiard-table, and at the same time capable of being readily protruded below the lowest portion ot' the legs, so as to pertbrm theoffices of the ordinary casters when the table is converted into an ordinary table, and as such necessary to be readily moved about to different portions of the room in the ordinaryA domestic uses of a dining-room or parlor table.

To enable those skilled in the art to construct and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

First. I make the frame of the table of iron or other metal, the same being represented by A in Figs. l, 2, 3, 4, Figs. 1 and 2 being perspective views; Fig. 3, a sectional, and Fig. 4 a bottom view the reot'. This may be made of cast-iron and cast in one or more pieces, as desired. At the proper points it is provided with angul r flanges (marked d in Fig. 4) for attaching the legs; also indentureson each side and end for inserting an ordinary spiritlevel, and a small projection near each end of the two sides from which to string a wire upon which the count or tally is scored.

Second. The legs may be of wood or iron. The upper ends of the legs B are made hollowr and have a screw-thread cut on their inside; or said screw-thread may be cut in a metal tube or socket placed within the leg. Into this tubular portion of theleg is fitted a male screw, (markedz', Fig. 2,) the upper end of which turns in the hole in flange d, the screw t' being provided with a hand-.wheel,E, for the purpose of operating it to raise and lower the table.

Third. Nithin the lower portion of the leg is fitted a wheel or caster, g, as shown in Fig. 5, which caster g is journ aled into, at lo, a lever, D, having the detached handle h, the arm h Working against the cam-shaped surface m, as clearly shown in Figs. 5, G, and 7, and this caster with its cam and lever is so located in the leg that when the handle h is turned down, as shown in Fig. 6, the wheel of the caster is made to protrude by the action of the arm h upon the cam m slightly below the leg, by vh'ci means the table is made to rest upon the wheels of the caster, whereby the table can be moved with facility.

Fourth. l also provide an extra removable top or cover, C, Figs. l and 2, which cover may be of Wood or other suitable material in a number of pieces laid on lengthwise or crosswise and so attached together by hinges lthat they can be folded up and readily removed v hen the table is to be used for abilliard-table. This eXtra cover may be placed upon a suitable rack underneath the table where it will bc out ot' the Way when not in use. By these means I provide a table that may be used as a billiard-table, and which, by lowering and putting on the extra top, is at once convertible into a dining, center, or olice table, and when the casters are properly adjusted can be moved about as desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The iron frame A, in combination with the adj ustable legs B B, substantially as shown, for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of the removable 'cover C with the adjustable legs B B, substantial'y as shown, for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of the iron frame A, the adjustable legs B B, the removable cover U, and the adjustable caster g. substantially as shown, for the purposes set forth.

4. The adjustable caster` g, provided with the lever D, having a detached handle, h, and

arm h', working against a. cam, m, or their equivalent-s, substantially as shown, for the purposes set forth.

` J. Davis BRADLEY.

Witnessesz D. S. STEWART, WM. HENRY. 

